Around the Farm: August 2

Recent Related Articles

Around the Farm takes a quick look at some of yesterday's performances by Indians prospects throughout the system. The positions listed below are where the player was playing in yesterday's game.

Jerad Head - LF, Columbus: 2-for-4, R, HR, 3 RBI.Head went yard for the fourth straight game and continues to do everything he can to impress upon the Indians or other teams for a big league opportunity. He is now hitting .287/.345/.521 with 19 HR and 60 RBI in 93 games this season for Columbus. Those numbers would surely have gotten him called up if he were viewed more highly in the industry as a prospect. Considering the Indians have yet to call him up even with a gaping hole of a need for a right handed bat for the past few months, it seems apparant that at this point they have no intentions of calling him up. He is a minor league free agent after this season, so if not added to the 40-man roster for the Indians he will most likely sign elsewhere for a better opportunity.

Kyle Bellows - 3B, Akron: 2-for-3, 2 RBI, K.Bellows struggled a lot in the first half (.209/.287/.300), but even with the poor results with getting on base and driving in runs he still maintained a good strikeout (37) to at bat rate (253) and continued to play very good defense. Some hits are finally starting to fall for him as in 18 games since the All Star break he is hitting .302/.343/.381 with a homer and 9 RBI. The bat may never be pretty, but he could have a long career because of his defensive ability at third base and be a right-handed version of Jack Hannahan.

Cord Phelps - 2B, Columbus: 3-for-5. Phelps struggled in his small taste of the big leagues earlier in the year, but continues to hit well in Columbus hitting .308/.400/.436 in his last ten games.

Zach Putnam - RP, Columbus: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K. He is the next impact bullpen prospect on the horizon and is considered big league ready.

Chun Chen - DH, Akron: 0-for-4, 1 BB, 3 K. Chen needs to hit to stay relevant as a prospect as he is hitting just .162/.256/.378 in his last 10 games and has had plate discipline issues this year (25 BB, 90 K).

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).